[Quote No.27982] Need Area: Fun > Gratitude "Our sense of happiness tends to be based on positional and relative rankings compared to what others have.
[For example economists Sara Solnick and David Hemenway have conducted a survey where they asked participants if they would rather earn $50,000 a year while other people made $25,000, or earn $100,000 a year while others got $250,000.
The majority of participants selected the first option. They would rather make twice as much as others, even if that meant earning half as much as they could have with the second option.
People also said, that they would rather be average-looking in a community where no one is considered attractive than merely good-looking in the company of stunners.
When it came to education, parents said they would rather have an average child in a crowd of dunces than a smart child in a class full of brilliant students.]" - Michael ShermerScientific American columnist, in his book 'The Mind of the Market' Author's Info on Wikipedia - Author on ebay - Author on Amazon - More Quotes by this AuthorStart Searching Amazon for GiftsSend as Free eCard with optional Google Image

[Quote No.28644] Need Area: Fun > Gratitude "More important than any other thing in life is how you feel. It will determine how much you achieve and how well you relate to others especially how many close friends you have [after all, it is hard to be around someone who is unhappy], even how healthy you are. Luckily the way you feel about anything in life and about life itself has been shown, in scientific tests, to be related to your ability to be grateful and this is not an inborn talent but a skill that improves with practise. So as important as daily exercise is to being healthy physically, the daily practice of gratitude is just as, if not more, important to your emotional health. The more often you take time to think of those things that you are grateful for, the richer and more pleasing will be your daily emotional life and the store of your happy memories. One useful way to incorporate this into your life is to keep a gratitude diary where each night before going to sleep you note three things that happened that day that you are grateful for. If you have trouble at first just think how things could have been worse but weren't and be grateful. Another way to incorporate and develop this skill in your life is to use odd moments throughout the day to list and then dwell on things you are grateful for. Try it the next time you have a few spare moments, for example at the shops while queueing or when at the stop lights while driving. It can even be used to displace and distract your thoughts from negative urges like smoking or over-eating. With practice you will find more times to do it and become better at it until it happens spontaneously even when bad things happen that used to upset you. You'll just be grateful they aren't worse or you'll notice something else that is good. All in all, making this a frequent daily experience will make your life become the positive and joyous experience we all wish it to be." - Ben O'GradyFounder and Chief Executive Officer of the Imagi-Natives' Company and the www.imagi-natives.com website.Author's Info on Wikipedia - Author on ebay - Author on Amazon - More Quotes by this AuthorStart Searching Amazon for GiftsSend as Free eCard with optional Google Image

[Quote No.29778] Need Area: Fun > Gratitude "It's been a marvelous time to be alive. It wasn't really a whole lot better to live in the fourth century BC than the fourth century AD. But it's been a lot better to live in the year 2007 than it was in the year 1807. Even those on the low end [of the pay scale and economy] are doing far better than people on the high end were doing 100 years ago. There're many, many things that a person earning a normal wage in this country can do and enjoy that [the richest man in the world in the early 1900s] John D. Rockefeller couldn't do and enjoy. So a rising tide has lifted all the boats..." - Warren Buffett(1930 - ), American investor , businessman and philanthropist. He is one of the world's most successful investors, and the largest shareholder and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He was ranked by Forbes as the richest man in the world during the first half of 2008 with an estimated net worth of $62 billion.Author's Info on Wikipedia - Author on ebay - Author on Amazon - More Quotes by this AuthorStart Searching Amazon for GiftsSend as Free eCard with optional Google Image

[Quote No.30120] Need Area: Fun > Gratitude "All emotions are subjective and the result of comparison with some other set of imagined experiences. For example a person will feel relieved, happy and grateful if their situation is better than another situation [i.e. -'Things could have been worse!']. On the other hand a person will make themselves feel bad if they compare their situation with a better situation [i.e. - 'Things could have been better!']. Therefore a mentally self-disciplined individual can control their emotions by controlling their imaginative comparisons. This has been found true by people ranging from ancient mystics, zen monks and samurai warriors to business people and housewives." - Seymour@imagi-natives.comAuthor's Info on Wikipedia - Author on ebay - Author on Amazon - More Quotes by this AuthorStart Searching Amazon for GiftsSend as Free eCard with optional Google Image